We were watching a TV show that was showing places and foods. We love watching those TV shows and we also make a mental note to go to those awesome restaurants if we ever travel to those places. We have visited some of those places and also to those awesome food places. And, other times when we watch these shows, I love seeing things and try to make them at home.
This dish is inspired from some restaurant in Kerela, India. The blogger went to a random restaurant which served authentic vegetarian food and tried Beetroot with chickpeas. It is a different combination and I found it weird to be honest. I do make Beetroot curry and Chhole but separately, never thought of them to be together.
So, I could never get an idea of the recipe except that it was beetroot shredded and had chickpeas. I added spices keeping Kerela flavors in mind. I added onions, a little tamarind and coconut. The end result was great and looked almost same as the curry we saw on TV and with taste, anyone who has tasted Kerela food can feel the connection.
Its an easy curry to make as long as you have Boiled Chickpeas. I usually soak and boil chickpeas, divide them and put them in ziploc in the freezer. I just prefer using them than using canned chickpeas. Its just a personal preference and won’t make any difference to the curry flavor.
A unique recipe from Old Delhi, Purani Dilli ki Jama Masjid ki galiyaan. I have literally known that area almost by heart. Okay, may be not the whole area, but definitely the famous restaurants, Kareem and Jawahar happen to be my father’s favorite. I remember as a young child looking forward to going to Jama Masjid just for the food and how much I wished those days that we should have lived in Delhi. My idea of living in Delhi soon changed as I got older thanks to the heavy traffic, but my taste buds still crave the lovely food. I think that might be the only reason most of my Kebabs are inspired by the flavors i experienced as a kid.
It’s one of the kebabs made specially during Ramadan. As much as Jama Masjid is popular for its non vegetarian cuisines, but some dishes are exclusively for this special month. This dish happens to be one of those special ones. The marinade is easy to do and it adds a lot of flavor to the chicken legs. The best part about the marinade is that it leaves the Kebab moist from inside with a crunchy exterior. I cooked these in the oven, but you can always barbecue them or even cook them on a pan. An oven though is always preferred. The second best thing after an oven would be a Gas Tandoor.
I would recommend you to marinate the kebabs for at least 3 hours, but if you happen to be in a rush, an hour in the refrigerator would also be fine. The result might not be as amazing, but still good.
This Kebab chatpata as the name suggests and makes a wonderful side dish to your regular dishes and will also amaze your guests.
Belonging to Northern west part of India, I grew up eating more of Moong, Masoor and chana daal. Toovar daal was either used to accasionally make sambhar or my mom’s Saturday Night khichdi. Believe it or not, my mom made khichdi every Saturday night and I always tried hard to get an answer to this question. The standard reply to my question was that my Dad enjoyed “Bhuni khichdi” or “pan fried khichdi” for breakfast every Sunday morning, therefore Khichdi had to made for Saturday dinner. Though I loved Sunday pan fried Khichdi, I still could never fall in love with the original Khichdi.
Coming back to Toovar daal. So, after I got married, I found so many different ways of cooking Toovar daal since down south, they cook a lot of Toovar daal. Isn’t it a blessing getting married to someone from a completely different state or region because you both are accustomed to eating similar flavors yet so many varieties add to your table in zoom. Its just amazing. All you need if you get married to someone different from you is keep an open heart, open mind and a pallet that is open to new foods and experiments. At least, thats what Mr. Parveez and I did.
Once when I revisited my hometown, I went to a restaurant and tried “Hari daal”… Now, with the flavor I did realize that its Toovar daal but what amazed me the most was to see my younger son, who was 4 that time, loved the daal and didn’t fuss. Of course, the restaurant owner didn’t share the recipe except confirming that it was Toovar daal. After I returned home, to USA, I still had the daal in mind and decided to trying to make it.
This daal is pretty easy to make and the best part is that because everything is blended, its easier for your kids to eat and enjoy the flavors. I always notice my boys taking coriander leaves, onions or tomatoes out of their daal but with this they enjoy the flavor and eat everything too.
The value of eating vegetables is something most of us realize after getting older, specially after having kids. This is the time you understand why your mom took all those strict routes of making you eat Bhindi, turai and patta gobhi. In my case, I always threw a fit when my mom made cabbage or patta gobhi but, since I wasn’t a big fan of Okra/ lady finger/Bhindi either, I had to pick my battle and would normally give in with cabbage.
It was my teen age when I actually started enjoying cabbage and I remember that my mom started adding grated carrot and peas to the cabbage which changed the taste from the tradtional cabbage curry and added a lot more flavor to the dish.
This cabbage curry is my mom’s recipe. There is no onion or garlic added to it. My boys love it and its one of the few ways to serve the greens in a delicious way.
As Indians, we love snacks and our snacking has no time. India has shops where you can find food, cooked fresh that comes under the category of snack, even though the one time calorie can exceed your breakfast, lunch and dinner combined, but, its still a snack.
Every tea time/ coffee time needs to have a snack at the side. Every time we have guests, making a fresh snack is considered honoring the guests. Though times have changed and most people serve store bought snacks, some people in India still prefer ordering fresh made snacks from the local stores when they expect guests, if they aren’t able to prepare them at home.
And, then still existing are people like me who prefer making their snacks at home, as much as possible and serving their guests and family with fresh made stuff. I am not bragging, honestly, I enjoy doing it and also have the time. There is nothing more amazing to flavors that are freshly cooked.
Our life these days, is so fast paced that its tough for us to take care of our health and we all know the culprit is lack of exercise and intake of processed food. In spite of all, we find it better to rely on medicines and cut down on all flavors of life, than changing our lifestyle. Its healthier if you find a little time in your busy schedule and follow the simple recipes I share.
The recipes are not just super delicious but also simple to follow and very clean to eat.
We love curries and specially curries that aren’t made commonly. One such curry is Beetroot. While growing up, Beetroot only made it to our salads, with time I found that people even make pickles out of Beetroot. And, then after I got married, I found that its a pretty popular curry in my new home.
Like all vegetable curries, Beetroot also has loads of unique ways of being cooked. My MIL makes her Beetroot by cooking it with spices and coconut puree, which is amazingly delicious as well. I still remember when Mr. Parveez told me one of his childhood stories about Beetroot. As a kid, he would sometimes take this curry to school and since Beetroot left a little red color on his tongue and he would run around telling his school mates that he had blood for lunch…LOLzzz. Childhood is the best life we live and the memories are so fond and extremely special. The most fascinating part is us remembering everything by looking at things around us….I always love sharing these little stories, after all, every food has a story.
This recipe is one of my experiments with both my favorite veggies, Beetroot and Bell pepper.
This recipe was an invention on a kids play date. The kids wanted fried chicken, well kind of fried and something that tastes close to tandoori, and it shouldn’t be something that they have already tasted. Oh Boy! Do you have kids who can test your creativity to a complete different level. Well, fortunately I do…LOLzzz. And as much as it tires and drains me out at times, it leaves me with the happiness of being able to create more recipes and compete with my own self to come up with something better.
